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Anyone who can brutalize an innocent, helpless creature is the lowest human that walks the earth, capable of anything. No compassion, no morals, no empathy... pure evil, the tool of the devil! I am hereby calling upon the spirits and I am sending out a curse upon this person. I am sending voodoo that this person committing this cruel acts upon these beloved cats, will as of right now, become violently ill and die a slow and painful death!
20 cat deaths leave Fla. communities worried
MIAMI (AP) - The black cat's body was found in the grass, just feet from the hedges where she slept each day.
Miss Kitty was still warm to the touch when the South Florida couple who cared for her found her in the yard next door. Her head was smashed and her back legs skinned, like pieces of chicken in a grocer's freezer. And she was not the only one to suffer such a fate.
Horrified owners have been finding their cats killed and mutilated for the past month in two south Miami-Dade County communities. Many of the cats were missing fur and appeared to have been cut with a sharp, straight instrument, police said. In all, investigators are looking into about two dozen deaths, with enough evidence to try to prosecute at least 15 of the cases.
"Every time I hear about someone else, I'm in their shoes and I see my cat again," said Mary Lou Shad, who fed and cared for Miss Kitty with her husband for the past year. Although the cat was feral, they considered her their pet.
I feel terrorized to the point where everywhere I go, I'm looking for dead cats on the side of the road," Shad said.
Investigators don't yet know who or what is behind the gruesome cat deaths in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay, but owners are keeping their pets inside, raising reward money and warily eyeing strangers.
Police spokeswoman Rebeca Perez said the manner of death indicates a person killed the animals, and that the deaths could be linked. So far, there's no indication the killer or killers plan to attack people.
Whoever's responsible "hasn't given any indication that this is some sort of a threat where this person's going to commit these crimes against a human being," Perez said.
The Shads' canary-colored home sits in a calm suburban neighborhood of small one-story houses, neat lawns and caring neighbors. There is a school nearby and a park with swings and playground equipment. An ice cream truck rumbles through, its tune echoing down the streets.
But the apparent tranquility belies residents' anger and fear.
"Be aware that there is a psychopathic coward, killing cats," reads one poster taped to a neighborhood street sign.
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